A Bilingual Cathedral on the South Side
On Wyandotte Street, just south of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity serves as a bilingual and multicultural Episcopal congregation rooted in the Southside neighborhood. As the cathedral of the Diocese of the Susquehanna, it gathers English-speaking and Spanish-speaking members under one roof, with Sunday worship offered in two languages and a calendar that runs from quiet spoken prayer to a candlelit Celtic contemplative experience. The mission statement captures the heart of the place: to know Christ, to make Christ known, and to serve all people according to Christ's example.
The building is laid out for both worship and community life. A lower parking lot off 3rd Street offers elevator access to the sanctuary and Sayre Hall, while an upper lot on Wyandotte serves most Sunday morning worshipers. Two adjacent parking structures and on-street parking provide additional space, and on Sundays the meters along 4th Street and the 400 block of Wyandotte do not need to be fed.
Five Sunday Services, Two Languages
Nativity describes itself as one community with multiple expressions of worship. On a typical Sunday, five distinct services fill the day.
- 8:00 AM Holy Eucharist (spoken) - A quiet, spoken service with a sermon and Holy Communion for those who want a simple and reflective liturgy.
- 9:00 AM Holy Eucharist (contemporary) - Piano-accompanied hymns, a short reflection on scripture, Holy Communion, and a relaxed feel. Childcare is provided, and this service is designed specifically for families with young children.
- 9:45 AM Christian Education - Sunday School for children from Pre-K through 12th grade, running in parallel with the Cathedral Forum for adults on topics of faith, scripture, and current events.
- 10:45 AM Choral Eucharist - The weekly mass with the Cathedral Choir and organ, traditional Anglican hymnody, and Children's Chapel for those under twelve. This service is streamed virtually each week.
- 12:30 PM Santa Eucaristía en Español - Lively Latino music, Holy Communion, and a sermon, all in Spanish, offered virtually.
Children are welcome in every service. A soft space in the sanctuary is set aside for small children, and coloring books and other worship aides are available for young families.
Saturdays, Celtic Contemplation, and Weekday Prayer
On Saturday afternoons at 5:00 PM, three out of four weeks of the month feature a spoken Holy Eucharist with communion and a sermon. On the fourth Saturday, the regular liturgy gives way to the Contemplative Spirituality service, a candlelit evening inspired by the Celtic Christian tradition.
Entering the Cathedral for the Celtic service, visitors find a darkened sanctuary lit by candles. Live Celtic musicians play reflective and meditative music. A short spoken meditation touches on themes such as hope, wholeness, healing, love, worry, strength, relationships, and peace. Then an extended period opens for personal reflection, during which people are invited to move among prayer stations. One of these is always a healing station, where ministers are available to lay hands, anoint with oil, and pray for healing and hope. The evening closes with a blessing. The experience usually runs about forty minutes, and the congregation is described as a mix of long-time members, people who drive from neighboring towns, churchgoers visiting from elsewhere, and those who have no organized church home at all.
On weekday mornings, Tuesday through Friday at 9:00 AM, the chapel is open for prayer. On Monday evenings at 7:00 PM, the Cathedral hosts Prayer Bead Meditation over Zoom, open to anyone with the meeting ID and passcode listed online.
Children, Youth, and the Nativity Choristers
Nativity takes a long view of Christian formation. Christian formation for children and youth runs all year long (except in June) on Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM, from Pre-K through 12th grade. Children and youth learn the foundational stories of the Bible, how to pray and worship, and the daily truth that they are deeply and unconditionally loved by the God who creates, redeems, and sustains them. Every teacher and worker undergoes background checks and Safe Church training.
Older youth have their own track. Confirmation classes are offered for those turning thirteen. Teens serve as acolytes in worship. Senior high students are invited on a summer pilgrimage, and special outings and events are scheduled throughout the year.
For musically inclined children between eight and fourteen, the Nativity Choristers program offers training as part of a centuries-old tradition. The Choristers rehearse weekly, sing at Mass and Evensong throughout the year, and participate in major liturgies including Christmas Lessons and Carols, Easter Mass, and Pentecost. The program is the only affiliate of the Royal School of Church Music America in the Lehigh Valley and offers training in music theory, aural skills, and choral singing. Repertoire draws from American and British choral traditions as well as music in Latin, Spanish, German, French, and other languages. Choristers receive a small stipend and dinner after each rehearsal.
A Century of Summer Camp at Choconut
For more than a hundred years, the Cathedral has run some form of camp ministry. It began as a choir camp and has been reshaped many times since. Today, Nativity Youth Camp sends children and youth to Camp Choconut in Friendsville, Pennsylvania, in the Poconos, for a week each summer. Campers stay in single-gender cabins with youth counselors and nearby adult staff, swim and boat on Lake Choconut, play Olympic-style team games, compete in kickball and handball for the Broken Bat trophy, gather around the campfire for skits and songs, and end each day in the camp chapel built in 1876.
Worship is central. The week includes daily Morning Prayer, a Wednesday Eucharist in the chapel, and a Saturday Eucharist celebrated with families before camp closes. The following Sunday, campers lead the Cathedral's worship service and share songs and reflections from their week away. Anyone in the Cathedral community over the age of eight (having completed second grade) can attend as a camper, and teens in grades nine through twelve can serve as counselors. There is no cost to campers; the roughly $300 per-camper expense is paid out of the Cathedral's budget and fundraising.
A Cathedral of Music
Music is treated as essential to worship at Nativity, not an embellishment. The Cathedral's music is grounded in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition and the British choral legacy, augmented with selections from across the Christian musical canon. Hymns, anthems, and motets range from centuries-old compositions to works written in the last decade. The Cathedral Choir, the Schola, the Nativity Choristers, and the Spanish Mass Band together fill the sanctuary at most liturgies, joined by the Cathedral's pipe organ.
The Choir of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity is one of the Lehigh Valley's pre-eminent sacred music ensembles, singing weekly at the Choral Eucharist as well as Evensongs and other special liturgies throughout the year. The season runs from after Labor Day through Trinity Sunday, and the choir is open to people of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels. The Schola is a semi-professional chamber choir of staff singers and auditioned volunteers, specializing in chant and Renaissance and early Baroque choral music. The Spanish Mass Band, led by Director of Spanish Music Ministry Michelle Pérez, leads the congregation at the 12:30 PM Spanish Eucharist each week.
The Cathedral hosts an annual concert series called Music at Nativity, with solo voice, piano, and organ recitals, visiting choirs, and other events. Evensong is sung monthly on Sunday evenings in the candlelit sanctuary, drawing on a centuries-old Anglican tradition and a vast repertoire composed specifically for the service. Special liturgies mark the seasons of the church year, including the All Souls' Requiem Mass, Advent Procession, and the services of Lessons and Carols for Christmas and Easter.
Discipleship and Formation for Adults
Adults at Nativity have many paths for going deeper in faith. The Cathedral Forum meets most Sundays at 9:45 AM (except during the summer) for presentations and discussion on issues of faith and culture. On the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM, Theology on Tap gathers at Brew Works on Main Street in Bethlehem. Periodic Bible studies are offered, and Small Groups of parishioners meet in homes to study scripture and theology. Anglican 101 classes are held on Wednesday evenings in October, and Confirmation Classes are offered each year during Lent.
Faith in Action: Serving the Neighborhood and the World
Nativity lives out its baptismal covenant by putting faith into practice. The Cathedral opens its doors in winter as part of Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering, providing people without a home a place to sleep and eat. The Pastoral Care Ministry visits the sick and supports parishioners in times of loss. Yarns of Love knits baby blankets for newborns. The Cathedral partners with New Bethany Ministries to clothe neighbors in need, with Habitat for Humanity on building projects, and with ShareCare on local services. The Better Buy Thrift Shop, housed on the Cathedral's campus, offers clothing, shoes, linens, household goods, books, DVDs, and children's toys at deep discounts and partners with New Bethany to give clothing to those in need.
English classes meet at the Cathedral on Tuesdays and Thursdays, welcoming neighbors into the community while they learn the language. The Cathedral coordinates the Fountain Hill Grocery Partnership, which helps families address food insecurity at Fountain Hill Elementary. Supplies are also collected for local food banks. The congregation also maintains a companion relationship with a cathedral in South Sudan, supporting that community through prayer, education, and mission trips.
Becoming Part of the Cathedral
Nativity welcomes new members from many backgrounds. Episcopalians who are already confirmed can transfer their membership by contacting the parish administrator at their previous church. Christians from other traditions - Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, non-denominational, and others - are considered full members of the church from the moment of their baptism, and may meet with a priest and attend a new parishioner orientation. Many choose to be Confirmed in the Episcopal Church as a public affirmation of faith; classes are typically held during Lent, and the Rite of Confirmation takes place on Easter Sunday. Those who have never been baptized are welcome to receive the Sacrament of Holy Baptism on any Sunday, with the only requirement being a sincere intention to follow Jesus.
The Clergy and Staff
The Cathedral is led by the Very Rev. Jon Stratton, the 18th Rector and 14th Dean of the Cathedral. Born and raised in southern Illinois and shaped by the Pentecostal tradition before falling in love with the Episcopal Church, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Eastern Illinois University and a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, followed by a Diploma of Anglican Studies from the School of Theology at Sewanee. He was ordained by the Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.
The Rev. Cn. Maryann Philbrook Sturges serves as Canon for Community Connections. A native of Louisiana, she holds a Master of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and is part of the inaugural class of Trinity Wall Street Leadership Fellows. The Rev. Cn. Rodney Conn is Canon Minister of Ceremonies and one of the coordinators of Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering, and has served as past president of its board of directors. The Rev. Wilson Colón, a native of Puerto Rico and former elementary school principal, was ordained a Vocational Deacon in September 2025. The Rev. Jane Bender serves as Associate for Pastoral Care, organizing the Pastoral Care Team, scheduling Lay Eucharistic Visitors, and making pastoral calls.
The Right Reverend Kevin D. Nichols, the 9th Bishop of Bethlehem, was ordained and consecrated at the Cathedral in September 2018.
Elizabeth Christie serves as Canon for Early Christian Formation, bringing more than two decades of experience in children's and family ministries and a particular passion for making ministries inclusive for all of God's children. Dr. Nicholas Halbert serves as Canon Precentor and directs the Cathedral's musical life. The administrative team includes Nadia Ordonez, Director of Operations and Administration, and Madeline Orellana, Administrative Assistant. Denise Iervolino coordinates the Better Buy Thrift Shop. José Méndez serves as Facilities Manager, and Bill Korp as Bookkeeper. Winston Alozie serves as Musician-in-Residence.
Beliefs and Identity
The Cathedral Church of the Nativity is an Episcopal Church in the Diocese of the Susquehanna and a member of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. It holds to the historic faith of the church as expressed in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds and the Book of Common Prayer. Nativity takes Jesus seriously and reads Scripture as the Word of God to be interpreted for a modern world. Tradition is honored as a guide from the spiritual ancestors, balanced with reason, scripture, and experience, and never followed uncritically or without historical context.
The Cathedral believes that Jesus calls followers to love and serve their neighbors, and that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, without exception. The congregation is fully affirming of the LGBTQIA+ community and works toward what it calls a more Beloved Community.
Belonging to the Diocese of the Susquehanna
The Diocese of Bethlehem has officially reunified with the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania to form the Diocese of the Susquehanna. The Cathedral of the Nativity continues as a diocesan cathedral under the new name. Visitors wishing to learn more can find information about the diocese at diosusquehanna.org.
Getting to the Cathedral
The Cathedral stands at 321 Wyandotte Street (Route 378), just south of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge. There are two Cathedral parking lots: an upper lot with access from Wyandotte Street and a lower lot with access from 3rd Street. The lower lot is the recommended entrance for anyone needing elevator access; the elevator is on the left as you enter from the lower lot and serves both the sanctuary and Sayre Hall on the first floor, with additional classrooms on the second floor. There is a ramp from the elevator that leads into the sanctuary.
Alternative parking is available on surrounding streets, at the New Street Garage at 324 South New Street, and at the Fourth and Wyandotte lot until 1:00 PM on Sundays, when the meters along Fourth Street and the 400 block of Wyandotte do not need to be fed. The Cathedral asks those who can park elsewhere to do so, leaving the lots open for those who need elevator access and those who may be visiting for the first time. Right turns are required when exiting both Cathedral lots.
Currently, the Cathedral does not have accommodations for those who are hard of hearing or visually impaired; anyone wishing to discuss accessibility needs is invited to speak with an usher before the service or email the Rev. Maryann Sturges.
The Better Buy Thrift Shop
The Better Buy Thrift Shop is operated by the Cathedral and open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Donations are accepted during store hours and include clothing, shoes, linens, household goods, books, DVDs, and children's toys. Used undergarments, televisions, computers, monitors, car seats, and furniture are not accepted. Those bringing donations are asked to park in the lower lot off 3rd Street. Volunteers can reach the shop coordinator through the Cathedral office at 610-865-0727, option 2.
Supporting the Cathedral
Giving to the Cathedral is available online through the Cathedral's giving portal, and donations support the building, the music program, the youth camp, the thrift shop, and the many outreach ministries that reach into the Southside of Bethlehem and beyond.